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Topic: Bit confused about the process of using starter (Read 1436 times)

I've been making dough-doctor-NY-style pizza for a while now using IDY, and thought I'd give starters a try to see how much of a taste difference there is. I purchased some Italian starter from sourdo.com, activated it in a mason jar over the course of a few days, and it's now sitting in the fridge. I found Jeff V.'s recipe percentages for how much to use for a pie, but I'm a bit confused about the process. Do I

1) take the whole jar out of the fridge, feed the jar with water and flour, let it warm up for three or four hours and then remove the amount of starter I need for the pizza recipe, add it to the flour and salt in the KitchenAid and make the dough; or2) take just the amount I'll need for the pizza recipe out of the jar in the fridge, let it warm to room temperature and then add to the flour and salt in the KitchenAid to make the dough; or3) take just the amount I'll need for the pizza recipe out of the jar in the fridge and put it straight into the flour and salt in the KitchenAid to make the dough, as if it were regular yeast

And secondly, I've been using the "cold ferment" method, whereby after kneading it for ten minutes in the KitchenAid, I immediately oil the dough balls and put them in the fridge for a few days. I've read different things about whether you should, or can, do this with dough made with starter. Jeff V. seemed to put his in the fridge, but I've heard others say you should let starter-made dough rise at room temperature and then use it on the same day. Thoughts?

- Remove starter from fridge. Allow to come up to room temp- Feed entire container and allow to fully activate- Measure out and use what is needed for pizza- Measure out what is needed for master- Feed master and allow to partially activate- Return master to fridge- Dump excess, or even better, retain for other uses such as waffles.

While it all really works out the same, I pull the jar from the fridge and immediately pull out a scoop of starter and place in a bowl, which I then feed to batch a preferment. My inital cold pull from the starter jar, doubles as my "wasting" to reduce acidity in the stock culture.

I've been making dough-doctor-NY-style pizza for a while now using IDY, and thought I'd give starters a try to see how much of a taste difference there is. I purchased some Italian starter from sourdo.com, activated it in a mason jar over the course of a few days, and it's now sitting in the fridge. I found Jeff V.'s recipe percentages for how much to use for a pie, but I'm a bit confused about the process. Do I

1) take the whole jar out of the fridge, feed the jar with water and flour, let it warm up for three or four hours and then remove the amount of starter I need for the pizza recipe, add it to the flour and salt in the KitchenAid and make the dough; or2) take just the amount I'll need for the pizza recipe out of the jar in the fridge, let it warm to room temperature and then add to the flour and salt in the KitchenAid to make the dough; or3) take just the amount I'll need for the pizza recipe out of the jar in the fridge and put it straight into the flour and salt in the KitchenAid to make the dough, as if it were regular yeast

And secondly, I've been using the "cold ferment" method, whereby after kneading it for ten minutes in the KitchenAid, I immediately oil the dough balls and put them in the fridge for a few days. I've read different things about whether you should, or can, do this with dough made with starter. Jeff V. seemed to put his in the fridge, but I've heard others say you should let starter-made dough rise at room temperature and then use it on the same day. Thoughts?

whoops, missed a couple things here. First, you want to be using a fully active starter in your dough formulation, so you wouldnt want to use cold starter fresh out of the fridge into your mixer. As far as your ferment goes, that is up to you whether you want to cold ferment or room ferment, but your formulation will change based on which one you go with with regards to yeast and sugar. I initially only used the cold ferment method as I followed the Varasano method too, but I have started using the 24-48 hour room ferment as of late, and am pleased with the results.